Picture an old orchard at the edge of a Czech village. Apple trees, long grass, a log house, and between the trees five small wooden cabins. Inside, it’s darker than anywhere you’ve ever slept. This is where your dark retreat in the Czech Republic happens.
Everything in the cabins answers one question Lenka and I keep asking: what does a person need for a week alone in total darkness, and what would only get in the way? Here’s our answer, down to the decibel.
A hectare of garden at the end of the village
Our land in Lomec is about a hectare of garden with an orchard. The nearest road is 200 metres away, and behind the cabins there’s only a vegetable patch, then fields and woods. We live in the log house fifty metres from the cabins, so we’re close enough to help and far enough not to disturb.
The garden changes a lot through the year. In autumn the apples fall, in winter the orchard is often under snow, and in summer it’s green and buzzing. You won’t see much of it during your stay, of course – but you’ll see it on the evening you arrive and on the morning you come out, and people tell us that second look is something else.
Five cabins, five names
The cabins are called Friendship, Peace, Health, Freedom and Love. The names are just names – a small wish for whoever is inside – and all five are equipped the same way. The only difference is the bed: the Cabin of Love has a double bed for couples, the other four have a single bed.
What’s inside a dark retreat cabin
- A real bed. Wooden, 200 × 90 cm, with a slatted base, a foam mattress, a microfibre pillow and duvet. Clean bedding is included unless you prefer to bring your own – so your suitcase stays light.
- Your own bathroom. A shower cubicle with hot water, a deep tray and a seat, a washbasin and a wall-hung flush toilet. You don’t have to cross the garden in the dark.
- Hot water with a little patience. The 30-litre boiler above the toilet heats up in about an hour and a half and gives you a 5 to 15-minute shower. In the dark, nobody is in a hurry anyway.
- Room to sit and stretch. A mat and a meditation cushion, hooks for your things, a shelf by the bed and space under it. There’s no chair as standard, but if you’d like one, just say so.
- Tea whenever you want. A kettle, so you can make tea or something warm whenever you feel like it.
- An anteroom for food. A small entrance space with a shelf for meals and a thermos, so food reaches you without any light reaching you.
Darkness, silence and fresh air: the technical bit
If you like numbers, this part is for you. If you don’t, the short version is: it’s completely dark, it’s quiet, the air is fresh and the temperature is pleasant.
Darkness
Each cabin is a timber building standing on ground screws about 10 cm above the earth, with 20 cm of insulation in the walls, 30 cm in the ceiling and a solid spruce floor. The construction is vapour-open, so the wood keeps humidity at a comfortable 45–60 %. The darkness is total – you can’t see your hand in front of your face, not after an hour and not after a week.
Warmth and cooling
A heat pump heats and cools each cabin, with underfloor heating and a small 0.5 kW backup heater chosen so that it doesn’t spark. An ordinary air conditioner blinks like a Christmas tree, so ours has been adapted to give off no light at all. The outdoor unit runs at about 46 dB, roughly a muffled conversation; the indoor one at 22 dB, about the sound of rustling leaves.
Air
Ventilation with heat recovery (70 % efficiency) has two speeds, switched by the entrance: 30 dB with the air exchanged twice an hour, or 35 dB and three times an hour. You can turn it off for full silence and back on when the air feels heavy.
Silence
With the ventilation off, the cabin is at about 24 dB at night and 28 dB during the day. That’s quieter than most bedrooms in a city. It’s still the countryside, though, so now and then you may hear one of our two dogs, a rooster, or a Gripen fighter jet from the air base in Čáslav, 12 km away. We haven’t yet managed to get the Czech Air Force to respect quiet hours 🙂 Earplugs or ear defenders are yours to borrow.
Water and power
Water comes from our own well (it gives about 21 m³ a day), without chlorine and drinkable – just let it run for a moment first. Waste water goes through our own small wastewater plant and back into the garden. Electricity comes from the sun.
Please leave at home: chemical shower gels, shampoos, perfumes and antiperspirants. The cabin is small and closed, your senses get very sharp in the dark, and everything ends up in our garden.
Food in the dark
If you choose meals, you get vegetarian food for the whole day, which we bring to the anteroom of your cabin – for example a lunch with soup, a vegetable stew, a pasta salad or something sweet. You eat it by touch, which sounds harder than it is. Alternatively, bring your own food or fast; the kettle is there either way.
A week for one person costs €479 without meals or €595 with them. All lengths and options are on the prices page.
The Cabin of Love: a dark retreat for two
The Cabin of Love stands under an apple tree and is the only one with a double bed. Couples spend their stay together in the dark: same bed, same silence, no faces to read. What that’s like differs a lot from couple to couple, and it’s worth talking about beforehand. A week for two with meals costs €895. Have a look inside:
We’ve written more about how a stay in the dark works as a pair in the article Dark retreat for couples.
Which dates are free?
A week starts on Saturday, three nights on Wednesday or Saturday, one night on Tuesday. The cabins are heated and cooled, so you can come in any season. Unsure what to expect inside? Read how a dark retreat works, or just write to us.
See you in the dark – Tom & Lenka